South Carolina State Fair

2015 Marketing Campaign

The South Carolina State Fair is one of the state’s most cherished and anticipated annual events. The 12-day fair is held in Columbia and features livestock and agricultural exhibitions, arts and crafts displays, thrilling rides and games, live concerts, and of course, incredibly amazing food! It’s also South Carolina’s largest recurring event, typically attracting over 400,000 attendees.

So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

Unfortunately, marketing for this big deal had become a big problem. In recent years the Fair’s visuals and messaging had stagnated. Logos, images and fonts varied from one instance to the next and there was no clear creative direction. The result was a confusing brand image with more twists and turns than a roller coaster.

So when queue was invited to develop the marketing campaign for the 2015 South Carolina State Fair, we were not only honored and excited – we were ready for the ride of our lives!

To get the Fair’s brand back on track, we developed a comprehensive marketing and media effort that reestablished consistency and cohesiveness. Our “Be A Part Of It!” campaign included “See It,” “Ride It,” and “Eat It” messaging that highlighted the fun and excitement of the Fair. rough print, outdoor, radio, television and online, we encouraged everyone to #BeAPartOfIt. Along with press kits, we even created custom ring toss games that were hand delivered to local media members in advance of the big event.

And last but certainly not least, we generated significant publicity for the Fair by “Raising the Rocket.” Yes, queue led an effort to literally lift the South Carolina State Fair’s most famous icon (a 13,700 pound ballistic missile named Columbia) to a new height of 72 feet, making the Rocket visible from a mile-long radius around the fairgrounds. Part of the project also included the construction of a new seating area for this popular gathering place.

All in all, the results of our efforts were uplifting (pun intended).

Not only did we help raise an icon to new heights, the Fair itself took off. The 2015 event experienced an amazing overall turnout, and two specific days broke all-time attendance records.